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Glossary
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- Haematogenous spread
- The spread of disease by blood-borne metastases.
- Haematoma
- a blood clot in the tissues
- Haematuria
- blood in the urine
- Haemoptysis
- the coughing or spitting up of blood from the lower air passages
- Hazard ratio (HR)
- A specific measurement used in clinical trials to compare two treatments. Comparing treatment A against treatment B, a HR of 1.00 indicates that there is an equal chance of experiencing a particular event or effect with both treatments. If the HR should fall below 1.00 there is a lower risk of experiencing an event or effect with treatment A and if the HR is greater than 1.00 it indicates an increased risk of an event or effect with treatment A.
- Hesitancy
- a decrease in the force of the stream of urine, often associated with difficulty in starting flow. Hesitancy is usually the result of blockage or stricture around the prostate gland
- Heterogeneous
- Being composed of a mixture of different things.
- Histological
- To do with the study of cells and tissues by staining techniques and visualisation by microscopy.
- Histological grade (of a tumour)
- A description of how differentiated a tumour cell is.
- Histological grading
- Applying a grade to tumour cells.
- Histology
- To do with the study of cells and tissues by staining techniques and visualisation by microscopy.
- Hormonal therapy
- In breast cancer, using drugs to block the effects of estrogen.
- Hormone receptor-negative
- This means the tumour cells do not have hormone receptors and therefore do not depend on hormones to grow.
- Hormone receptor-positive
- This means the tumour cells have hormone receptors and therefore depend on hormones to grow.
- Hormone receptor test
- To determine whether you are hormone receptor-positive and may respond to hormone therapy.
- Hormone receptor-unknown breast cancer
- Breast cancer in which it is unknown whether the cancer depends on certain hormones to grow.
- Hormone-refractory (or hormone-independent or hormone-escaped) prostate cancer (HRPC)
- prostate cancer that is insensitive to androgens and which does not require them to continue growing. Also describes tumours that no longer respond to androgen deprivation
- Hormone replacement therapy
- The use of female hormones (estrogen and progesterone) for the relief of symptoms resulting from ovarian function.
- Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)
- Drug therapy that supplies estrogen to women to help with menopausal signs and symptoms.
- Hormones
- Substances produced by organs or cells in your body that affect bodily processes.
- Hormone-sensitive
- A tumour which is dependent on the presence of certain hormones in order to grow. In postmenopausal women, approximately 80% of breast tumours are hormone sensitive.
- Hormone therapy
- anticancer therapy that interferes with the influence of sex hormones on tumour cells
- Hot flushes
- A hot feeling on the face and upper body. In some cases this follows or is accompanied by a rapid heartbeat and sweating, nausea, dizziness, anxiety, headache, weakness, or a feeling of suffocation. It can leave the person reddened and perspiring. Hot flushes naturally occur in women going through the menopause, but are also a side effect of some hormonal therapies.
- Hyperplasia
- Increased growth.
- Hypoechoic
- tissue that does not reflect ultrasound waves such that the tissue appears as a dark area on the image
- Hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis
- the inter-dependent relationship between the endocrine glands in the male
- Hypothalamus
- A small structure in the brain that forms part of the endocrine system, secreting locally-acting hormones that act on the pituitary gland.
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